Kitchen Large Electric Appliances - Amana Fridge not cooling

Thank you for reading this:
I have a 27 cubic foot amana side by side fridge which is in very good condition for being 10 years old.
The freezer is now only going down to 20 degrees (the old "ice cream is now a milk shake"), but the milk side seems to be OK at 40 degrees.
I have done the following: Lights do not stay on in freezer; Condensor fan is working OK, coils are very clean, condensor fan is clean; evaporator fan is working OK air is moving on both sides. Condensor is hot to touch, coils are only warm. Door seals are OK - no leaks.
The defrost timer had a continuity problem, it was replaced along with the temp control for good measure (easy to do & inexpensive). After the unit was turned off for 7 days waiting for parts (would have melted any ice buildup on evaporator coils), these 2 new parts were installed & unit turned on. After 48 hours the unit does the same, freezer side only 20 degrees, milk side OK at 40 degrees. Unit does not shut off, only during defrost cycle for 30 minutes which is every 8 hours. Water drains oK during defrost cycle. When I turn the temp controls down on milk side it does not change anything.
I read in another post that the compressor is bad if unit unplugged & plugged back in to have it start right back up again. I tried this & it took about 5 minutes for my compressor to start again.
Is there anything easy (or difficult) that I overlooked that I can still check? Most other threads stop short of the answer I am looking for , they say they will not replace a compressor & to just purchase a new unit. This may be my only option but I am seeking your expertise before I proceed.
Thanks! :D

5 minutes is better than nothing, but not as good as it should be.. When the compressor "compresses" it builds up pressure, the compressor should not start right away against this head pressure. It should click off because it is too hard to start. The fact that the compressor is hot is good. It is trying to compress. How hot is the small tube coming out of the compressor?

You never mentioned what the coils looked like are they all frosted up? It should not take too long after defrost for this to happen. They should all have frost.

If they are not all frosted you have a compressor that is leaking, on its way out or their is a restriction.

When the freon comes out of the compressor and before it goes into the evaporator it goes through a small capillary tube. This tube meters the freon into the evaporator. If there is moisture in the system it is likely that it will freeze here and restrict the flow. Dirt will also accumulate here. A very hot hard working compressor can cause contamination. A restriction will also cause the condenser coils to be hot. You said your aren't

An inefficient compressor with bad valves doesn't get hot because it is not really doing a lot, just going through the motions. You said your was hot, and it didn't start up right away.

If you are low on freon your freezer would not be as cold as it should be and the coils will not be all frosted up and the compressor will run till it satisfies the cold control,possibly all the time, but it may get cold enough to keep the fresh food compartment at 40 degrees.

Long story shot=====check the evaporator coils for frost pattern and see if you see any oil[leak]. Do that unplug plugin test again and see exactly how long it takes.possibility is that if the ref is low on freon it may not generate as much pressure as a fully charged unit and might produce the results you got[5 min restart]. You may want to look around for some oil down bt the compressor -condenser area too.

Tell us what you see.

Sorry if this is a little disorganized--trying to watch tv and type and think is tough.

Joneq,
thanks for the reply.
< check the evaporator coils for frost pattern and see if you see any oil[leak]. Do that unplug plugin test again and see exactly how long it takes.possibility is that if the ref is low on freon it may not generate as much pressure as a fully charged unit and might produce the results you got[5 min restart]. You may want to look around for some oil down bt the compressor -condenser area too. Tell us what you see. >
Let me try the above as you seuggested & I'll get back shortly! Thanks a bunch ! :thumbup:

Hi Joneq,
OK, as you asked . . .
1.) After the unit was running, I unplugged it then plugged it back in. It took exactly 5.5 minutes for the compressor to restart.
2.) There is no oil under the compressor, all clean!
3.) I will have to go back later & try to get the back panel off so I can look at the evaporator coils as you asked. Its a little more work than I thought since I have to take out the ice maker & a motor that runs the auger to crush the ice.
Any Ideas to this point?
Thanks again ! :wall:

I think we need to see the coils

< I think we need to see the coils >
OK,
Won't be able to get to the coils till Monday. I'll have more info at that time.
Thanks . . . :thinker:

< think we need to see the coils >
Hi Joneq,
Thanks again for all of your help!
I thought it would be a more involved job to get at the coils but I was wrong.
I thought I'd have to take out the ice maker & auger motor located at the top 1/3 of the freezer to get at them. But I took off the lower panel first (held in with 4 screws) & there they were.
After running Fridge for 15-20 minutes only the first 10 inches of the coils had frost on them. The remaining length of the coils were cold but NO frost. :thumbdn:
(I made sure the heater element was not on at the time, and it wasn't).
Evaporator fan was blowing OK.
Where do we go from here??? :confused:
Thanks again ! ! !

Well---It could be the compressor is on its way out or there is a leak or a restriction[sound familiar]. Either way you yourself cannot fix it. At the very least you would have to find the leak -fix it ,then get the system refilled. If the compressor is on its way out it will continue to run full time till then. If it is a restriction,caused by an overworked compressor, it would have to be blown out refilled and would likely happen again. A new refrigerator may be in order.--sorry.

< It could be the compressor is on its way out or there is a leak or a restriction[sound familiar]. >
Hi Joneq,
Thank you for all of your expert advise. One last question & we can close this thread.
If there is a leak and it is repaired, how durable can one expect that type of repair to last? Also are leaks diffficult to detect?
Thanks again . . .

There is oil in the freon so if there is a leak there will be oil present around the spot. You didn't see any so in order to check the coils properly a tech would introduce a dye that reacts to UV light[very CSI] and then come back and see if any showed up anywhere. In the meantime you can try some soapy water. Brush it on all over not just the fittings and see of it bubbles. You may get lucky. If you find 1 leak that doesn't mean there is not another though. I don't know how you go about that in the freezer though.


There are epoxies that can be used if the leak is in a nice spot, but I never used it and it would be temporary at best and probably would not work on the evaporator You would still need a tech to fill it and maybe evacuate it beforehand

Yours doesn't sound too bad. You should be able to see most of it, at least there is no tubing going up the back of the frige. Use the soapy water first.

Finding and fixing leaks sounds expensive and may not be worth it. I know if it was me I would at least try to find it. It would bother me not to. Whether I could fix it is another story and in the back of my mind I would probably be thinking it is not worth it because why would a hole just decide to be here and not there or anywhere for that matter[unless it is at a connection like from the compressor or into the condenser places like that].

Hi Joneq,
< a tech would introduce a dye that reacts to UV light[very CSI] >
That's funny, . . . your watching far too much TV - LOL ! :D
< In the meantime you can try some soapy water. Brush it on all over not just the fittings and see if it bubbles. You may get lucky. :
Finding and fixing leaks sounds expensive and may not be worth it. I know if it was me I would at least try to find it. It would bother me not to.>
I agree, I'm like that too. It bugs me to not be able to solve a problem, or at least figure out what exactly the problem is, even if its not fixed. I hate to just walk away without at least knowing what's going on. I'll try the soapy water. ( I remember doing that whan I ran gas lines to replace an electric stove. )
If there is oil mixed in, not sure how freon would leak out & no oil present, like you said earlier to look for oil. Also if there is a leak, wouldn't the Freon all leak out say over the course of 2-3 weeks. Its been that long since I've been fooling with this, and the temperature seems to stay constant 40 in fresh food & 20 in freezer.
That's why I'm kind of leaning toward your comment about a restriction, or a bad compressor, and not a leak.

I think they will work for years with a small hole. We are not really talking about a hole hole. Just the tiniest thing.There isn't even that much freon in the system-- maybe 8 oz or less.

As far as I know a restriction has to be fixed by opening the system and using some kind of gas introduced under pressure in the opposite direction that the freon normally flows. Then change the filter drier and seal up the system before refilling with recovered or new freon.

If it is a bad comp ---a new compressor is cheaper than a new ref,by how much depends on what you want to buy,and how much a new comp cost for your model

I think a lot of places don't want to do sealed system work because of problems. That is why they charge so much on the first trip.. They figure they will be back at least once for free.

OK,
tried the soapy water thing, and no evidence of any leak. But not sure if I got it everywhere, although I kind of dumped several buckets of the stuff all over the coils to be sure. Even did the fittings near the compressor.
Est to replace compressor came in at around $500.
A new Whirlpool (top rated in Consumer report; had the least repairs) at Costo is $800 with a $150 rebate, so $650 sounds like a good price for a new 25.4 cu ft side by side with water/ice in door. That's omly $150 more than the compressor replacement.
So I am going to go with the new fridge at this point.
Joneq, thank you so very much for all of your valuable help. I really learned a lot from you, more than I really wanted to know - lol.
Keep your sense of humor !
Hopefully I will not need your help again for a while!
Rick in Cleveland Ohio (alias Melvey)

Sounds like a good deal. I know you will be reading that manual as soon as you get it. And don't forget to clean that condenser 2 or three times a year and check things out before they go out of warranty :thumbup: